Emergency valve responsive to impact, jarring or theat



Aug. 13, 1968 P. ROSELL EMERGENCY VALVE RESPONSIVE TO IMPACT JARRING OR HEAT Filed April 15, 1966 FIG-4 INVENTOR. LESTER P ROSELL United States Patent 3,396,739 EMERGENCY VALVE RESPONSIVE T0 IMPACT, JARRING OR HEAT Lester P. Rosell, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to Emco gllliieaton, Inc., Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Filed Apr. 15, 1966, Ser. No. 542,790 7 Claims. (Cl. 137-39) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to emergency valves and is particularly concerned with an emergency valve sensitive to both impact conditions and temperature conditions.

Emergency valves of the nature referred to are employed in many locations including, for example, beneath the pumps of dispensing units in filling stations and the like. The emergency valves are normally open and close upon impact as, for example, when a vehicle might strike the connected dispensing unit, or upon the development of predetermined ambient temperature condition, indicating a fire in the vicinity. The closing of the emergency valve will, of course, interrupt the connection of the dispensing unit to the underground supply of fuel and there by eliminate the possibility of the fuel being drawn from the underground container and feeding the fire, or of being spilled out on the ground in case the dispensing unit is struck by a vehicle and knocked from its foundation. An emergency valve is of particular merit where the pump is in the supply tank.

Emergency valves of the nature referred to are, in general, known and the present invention relates primarily to improvements in a valve of this nature by mean-s of which it is made more reliable, more comp-act, more inexpensive, and easier to put back into service once it has been tripped off.

With the foregoing in mind, a primary object of the present invention is the provision of an improved emergency valve of the nature referred to.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of an emergency valve sensitive to ambient temperature condition-s and to impact which is compact and inexpensive.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of an emergency valve sensitive to ambient temperature and imp-act in which the impact sensitive and temperature sensitive elements are combined to form a single unit.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of an emergency valve sensitive to impact and to ambient temperature conditions which is reliable and which can safely be placed in a relatively inaccessible location and which does not require service except for resetting if this should become necessary.

The foregoing objects, as well as other objects and advantages of the present invention, will become more apparent upon reference to the following detailed specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view, partly broken 3,396,739 Patented Aug. 13, 1968 away showing an improved emergency valve according to the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical sectional view indicated by line IIII on FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view looking down on top of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a side view partly broken away showing a modified form of the emergency valve; and

FIGURE 5 is a view looking in from the right side of FIGURE 4.

Referring to the drawings somewhat more in detail, the valve shown in FIGURES l, 2, and 3 comprises a body having a flow passage 12 therethrough within which passage there is formed a seat 14. Seat 14, may, for example, be provided on a separate member 16 threaded to one end of body 10.

Slidable in spider 18 in body part 10 is a valve stem 20 having a poppet valve member 22 on the end thereof nearest seat 14. A spring 24 continuously biases the valve member toward the valve seat so as to close the valve.

Stem 20 near its lower end is provided with a notch 26 and a lever 28 extends into the notch. Lever 28 is fixed to one end of the shaft 30 which extends sealingly through a nut 32 threaded into an aperture in the side of body 10. Shaft 30 at its outer end carries a second lever 34 by means of which the shaft can be rotated to draw valve member 22 into its open position. Release of lever 34 will, of course, permit spring 24 immediately to close valve member 22 on seat 14. Fluid flow through the valve body is from the bottom upwardly so that closing of the valve member on its seat will positively interrupt the flow therethrough.

Member 16, threaded on the upper end of valve body 10 has an annular groove 36 formed therein which forms a break-off region so that if a certain amount of stress is developed in the said region, the upper end of member 16 connected to the conduit leading away from the valve body will break off and the lower part of member 16 secured to the valve body that is mounted on the conduit leading to the valve will remain in position on the valve body.

The annular groove 36 is also availed of for receiving a spring clamp ring or control element 38. Spring clamp ring extends around annular groove 36 and has two end parts or legs 40 and 42 turned therefrom at substantially 90 to the plane of the ring. The leg part 40 is relatively short while the other leg part 42 extends downwardly to the region of the end of lever 34. The two leg parts of the clamp ring are held together by a fusible link 44. The clamp ring is normally sprung toward a substantially greater diameter than that of annular groove 36 so that upon fusing of link 44, the ends of the clamp spring will spring apart and the clamp ring will be dislodged from its normal position. Similarly, if the upper part of member 16 breaks off from the lower part thereof, the clamp ring will be released and will be dislodged from its normal position.

Longer leg 42 of the clamp ring is normally biased toward the position shown in dashed lines in FIGURE 1 and marked 42. The extreme lower end of the leg part 42 is adapted for seating in a recess 44 in the top of the outer end of latch lever 34. The spring 24 acting through valve stem 20 and lever 28 and shaft 30 on lever 34 will normally hold leg 42 of the clamp ring in place in recess 44. Upon jarring of the valve any substantial amount, however, the leg 42 of clamp ring will spring out to its dashed position thereby releasing latch lever 34 which will move upwardly to its dashed position, indicated at 34, and in which position the valve member 22 is, of course, closed.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the emergency valve of the present invention is simple in construction and is therefore, inexpensive to manufacture and maintain and that the valve is quite compact. It will further be observed that with one and the same clamp ring arrangement the valve will automatically close upon: A; ambient temperature reaching that amount which will cause fusing of link 44: B; the valve being jarred or impacted to an extent that will dislodge the end of leg 42 of the clamp ring from recess 44 in latch lever 34: or, C; upon such stress being developed in the piping system in which the valve is mounted that the member 16 will part along the weakened region thereof defined by the annular groove 36 in which the clamp ring rests.

In the modification of FIGURES 4 and 5, substantially the same structure is employed except the break off notch 36a of the upper part 1611 of the valve member is not availed of for supporting a clamp ring or control element. Instead, the latch lever 34a engages a longer end part of leg 42a of the length of spring wire which is in the form of a torsion spring and which has also a shorter leg part 40.

The convolutions of the torsion spring are supported on a fusible pin 52 which is received in a pair of apertured lugs or ears 54 which may be formed integrally with the valve body. The modification in FIGURES 4 and 5 operates the same way as that previously described except that breaking off of the valve within the range of member 16a will not serve in itself to close the valve but must be depended upon to close the Valve body by the shock imparted thereto. In connection with the second modification the longer leg 42a of the spring is biased to position 42a as shown in dashed lines so that whenever the valve body is impacted by an impact of a predetermined severity, the end of leg 42a will be dislodged from the recess 44a in the end of latch lever 34a thereby permitting the valve member to move to its closed position.

Both modifications of the valve illustrated are compact and relatively inexpensive and are of such simple structure that they can perfectly safely be placed in relatively inaccessable locations because they do not require service and will remain in operative condition for indefinite length of time without attention.

It will be understood that this invention is susceptible to modification in order to adapt it to different usages and conditions; and accordingly, it is desired to comprehend such modifications within this invention as may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An emergency valve comprising; a valve body having a fiow passage therethrough, means forming a valve seat in said passage, a valve member in said passage biased toward said seat, a lever on the outside of the valve body operatively connected with said valve member through a wall of the valve body and operable when moved into a first position for moving said valve member away from said seat, a spring ring latch member including a finger-like element, said element extending at an angle to said lever and being engageale with said lever to hold the lever in its said first position, said element being biased laterally of said lever toward a position to release said lever to permit said valve member to close on said seat, cooperating elements of detent means on said lever and elements to hold said element in engagement with said lever and sensitive to impact of said valve body to release the element from the lever to permit said valve member to close, and support means including a fusible member supporting said latch member on said valve body so that fusing of said fusible member will also release said element from said lever.

2. An emergency valve according to claim 1 in which said vavle body has a groove thereabout on the downstream side of said seat forming a weakened break-off region, said valve member being disposed on the upstream side of said seat.

3. An emergency valve according to claim 2 in which said latch element is a spring band normally larger in diameter than said valve body and compressed about said body, the ends of said spring band being bent off at an angle, one of said ends forming said element, said fusible member interconnecting said ends and holding said band compressed about said body.

4. An emergency valve according to claim 3 in which said spring band is seated in said groove.

5. An emeregency valve according to claim 4 in which said valve body comprises a first part in which said valve member is mounted and a second part detachably connected to one end of said first part and being formed with said seat, said groove being in said second part beyond the said one end of said first part.

6. An emergency valve according to claim 2 in which said latch element is a torsion spring having one end forming said element and its other end engaging said valve body, lug means on said body, and said fusible member comprising a fusible pin extending through said lug means and the loop in said torsion spring.

7. An emergency valve according to claim 1 in which said detent means comprises a shallow recess in said lever in which the tip end of said element is receivable.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,359,035 11/1920 Crocker 137-77 2,860,649 11/1958 Billian 13777 X 2,962,035 11/1960 Wright 137-39 2,965,116 12/1960 Boone 137-39 3,165,236 1/1965 Beazer 137-39 X CLARENCE R. GORDON, Primary Examiner. 

